


Contracts And Commitment

by Lumelle



Series: Silver Bells, Golden Bells [3]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Contracts, Courtesans, M/M, Nwalin Week, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-25
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 17:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6966586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A relationship consisting mostly of Nori falling into Dwalin's bed starts to morph into something more when Nori makes a find in the treasury and decides to tease Dwalin with it. However, the next step is not without its practical difficulties.</p>
<p>Good thing Dori is very invested in his brother's happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Contracts And Commitment

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "Weapons/Tools" for the Nwalin Week 2016 (bells and contracts being some of Nori's tools of trade, in this case).
> 
> **Please note** that this story features contract negotiations for a companionship that includes sexual services. There is also a brief mention of the potential of mpreg within the setting, though no actual instances of it. Please read accordingly.

Nori was scheming something.

There was still a part of Dwalin that wanted to laugh at the idea, to point out that of course Nori was scheming something, Nori always was, even now that they were in the mountain again and Nori was supposed to be a most honourable hero of Erebor. However, he also knew the signs when Nori had something special in mind, something that went beyond his simpler tricks and schemes, or even anything he did with Thorin's blessing and at his behest.

Dwalin had to admit, calling Nori his spymaster had been a very smart move on Thorin's part. He could have hardly found a dwarf more suited to the job. Nori had taken to his new task with an almost worrying sort of glee, building a network of informants and spies from the ground up now that people were returning to the mountain. Bofur had joked about how nobody could as much as take a piss in the mountain without Nori's knowing of it, but Dwalin wasn't entirely convinced it was a mere joke.

Now, however, Nori was up to something else. What it was, Dwalin wasn't entirely sure, but he knew something was going on. Nobody else seemed to have caught on, but then he supposed nobody else was watching Nori quite as closely.

He wasn't sure he had ever watched Nori as closely before, himself.

It was an odd arrangement, the one they had fallen into. Neither had dared to give it any particular name, yet it had become almost routine for him to find Nori in his bed at some point of the night. Never the other way around, the bed Nori called his own was in rooms he shared with his brothers, and however much Dwalin lusted he was not quite so desperate as to give Dori reason to get angry at him for corrupting poor little Ori. As though Ori didn't already know all about such things in theory, if not in practice; he'd grown rather close with the princes and Fíli in particular on the road, as young people of a similar age often did when everyone else around them was much older, and while Dwalin adored the lads like they were his own he wasn't quite naive enough to think they didn't take some pleasure in hearing and repeating some rather filthy stories when their uncle wasn't around to hear. As their friend, Ori couldn't have avoided hearing at least some of it. However, Dwalin doubted pointing this out to Dori would have helped anything, certainly not if he'd been caught in Nori's bed.

So. Nori came into his bed, more often than not, and when they were both there they found quite a lot of pleasure in each other. Neither of them was inexperienced or shy about trying new things, so between the two of them they had found quite a lot of ways to address the issue of their mutual lust. And when that was how Dwalin spent a significant part of his nights, it was sometimes hard not to let his gaze be drawn to Nori during the day. And so, he noticed when something was out of the ordinary. Such as now.

Too bad he had absolutely no idea what exactly was going on.

It was easy to say that Nori was scheming something, when that could mean so many things. Just because Dwalin knew he was up to something didn't mean Dwalin had any actual idea of what to expect. It could be something to do with Nori's network of spies, or something about his brothers, or something to do with one of his current friends in the Company or the shadier parts of his past, or even something that was just plain illegal in the present. Of these Dwalin was very aware he had better keep himself out of some of them, and even for others he'd do well to wait for Nori to invite him to meddle. Well. Unless there was indeed something illegal going on, and even then Dwalin couldn't be sure it would be worth the headache.

In the end, he wasn't terribly surprised when he realised someone was in his rooms as he arrived.

This was actually not standard, however much some others might have teased him. Nori usually only arrived late at night, when Dwalin was already getting ready for bed. This time, however, Dwalin was certain someone was in his rooms as he arrived. He might have been alarmed by this, if not for the sight of one of Nori's knives set on a table that hadn't been there in the morning. Not only did it confirm Nori was his strange visitor, but also that Nori didn't consider himself to be in danger. He was about as difficult to part from his weapons as Fíli was from his, and would not have laid aside even a single knife if he didn't consider himself to be secure.

Dwalin tried not to think too closely on what it meant that Nori considered himself so secure in Dwalin's rooms. That way lay only insanity. Instead, he glanced around and, finding no sign of Nori in his front room, headed for the bedroom instead.

Dwalin froze in the doorway.

Nori was dressed in fine clothes, finely cut velvets and silks, but that was hardly a surprise. Dori's first order of action as they started to get trade from Iron Hills had been to make new outfits for himself and his brothers, from all the best materials. Ori was still a bit uneasy about wearing his, but while Nori went back to his old clothes a lot of the time for some degree of anonymity, when he did wear his fancier outfit he appeared to take quite easily to the change of style. He made a lovely sight like that, and he knew it very well, rather taking advantage of it from time to time.

It wasn't the outfit that caught Dwalin's attention, though. What truly captured him were the small silver bells, woven into Nori's intricate braids, tinkling with every movement he made.

"Look what I found in the treasury." Nori was smirking, perfectly aware of the effect he had on Dwalin like this, toying with a long silk scarf as though preparing to dance at a party.

"Bells." Dwalin swallowed, stepping into the room proper. Nori was stepping from side to side now, not quite dancing but almost, waving the scarf in his hands. "Those are — they are guild bells, aren't they?"

"Aye. Almost exactly like mine, back in the day." They certainly sounded the same, a part of Dwalin's mind lost in the memories of the night he fell under Nori's enchantment for the first time. "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" There was a rough quality to Dwalin's voice that even he could hear, but he couldn't truly help it, not now. "I think that if you wished to wear the golden bells instead, there's none in the mountain who would tell you not to."

"And what would you wish for, if I wore the gold?" Nori's eyes were sharp on him, intense in a way that should have scared Dwalin, if he'd had any sense of self-preservation left when it came to Nori. "A night for fun, a week for need —"

"A month for home, a year for greed," Dwalin finished. The words were familiar enough, having found their way to many a drinking song that still lingered even though he doubted anyone had worn the bells in decades. His hand caught one end of Nori's scarf, drawing him in close. Nori followed the movement easily, his hand still clutching on, coming to a halt with his face just inches from Dwalin's. "Well, in that case you might call me greedy."

"You speak of serious things." And yet, Nori wasn't pulling away. "You know, my mother always cautioned me against anyone who wants a year right away. Said they only wish to possess that which is not theirs."

"She was not wrong." Dwalin knew himself well enough for that. "Though not because I think it would give me any claim I might not otherwise have. I know better than that."

"Then what is it you want?" Nori tugged sharply, and Dwalin let go of the scarf, surprised once again by the strength of the lithe body. He shouldn't have been, not truly, not from the brother of Dori. "If you know a contract would not give you anything I do not already give you freely, why would you want one? What use is it to you?"

"I want one because I'm a dwarf, and jealous of my treasures." He kept his eyes on Nori, on every small movement, knowing they were all calculated to draw his eye anyway. "Because while it may not give me any claim, it would mean you cannot give that claim to any other, not as long as the contract lasts."

"Really, now." Nori's voice was very nearly a purr, his eyes darkening as he leaned just a bit closer. "And perhaps you should give me some incentive for that? After all, it would be such a waste to promise myself to one dwarf alone if he cannot satisfy."

Dwalin growled, now, knowing a challenge when he heard one and quite determined to meet this one head on. Doubt his skills, did Nori? He was about to be proved wrong, several times over if Dwalin had any say in it.

They didn't quite make it to the bed.

As they finally had found their way to bed, sweat cooling down on bare skin as they lay in relative silence, Nori's fingers drew a repetitive pattern across Dwalin's chest to the point that Dwalin almost fell asleep to the sensation.

"You know," Nori said, little more than a murmur. "We could do a month."

"Huh?" Dwalin blinked up at the ceiling. His eyes had been almost falling shut already. "A month? What?"

"A contract." Nori tapped his fingertips against Dwalin's skin a bit more sharply than necessary. "I won't give you a year, but I could do a month. You know. Just to try it out."

"Right." Dwalin paused, thinking about it. "I, ah. I would like it."

"Don't get too excited yet." Even without looking, he could hear the smirk in Nori's voice. "There's one complication in the contracts of the Confidantes' Guild."

"Let me guess. They require the guild to exist?"

"Technically, yes. But in a more practical manner, they require a representative of the guild to be present at the negotiations." Nori's fingers resumed their earlier soothing pattern. "Now, care to guess who is the only person in this mountain besides myself who I know for a fact has received full guild training?"

Dwalin didn't curse out loud, not quite, but that was only because he was so very tired already.

*

"Well." Dori poured out three cups of tea, rather proud of himself that his hands didn't shake overly much. "I suppose we should just get started right away, then."

"Right." Nori nodded, and while Dori himself still wasn't entirely sure about this whole thing, his brother certainly didn't seem to hesitate. "You have the contract, right?"

"I do." He handed out the teacups before spreading out the contract on the table. It wasn't terribly long, certainly not by dwarven standards, but then he had to trust that it covered all the main points. "This is a copy of the standard guild contract that I had Balin find at the library. I will go through it point by point, and if either of you wish to add or modify anything, we will do so here and now, before anyone signs anything."

"Works for me." Nori tapped his fingers against the table, no doubt trying to seem dismissive. Too bad Dori knew him too well. Nori wanted to do this by the book, needed to do so, or he wouldn't feel secure. He wouldn't have started the process in the first place if he didn't need it.

"This will be an official contract under the jurisdiction of the Confidante's Guild. As the guild is not currently operational, there is no Guildmaster to oversee the contract, as would be traditional." Mostly because all those who had been trained in the trade were either dead or lost. "However, you have both agreed that I may oversee the contract in the position of acting Guildmaster, with both the right and responsibility to enforce appropriate parts of the contract."

"Right." Dwalin nodded, Nori mirroring him. "As we understand, you're the oldest dwarf in the mountain qualified to act for the guild."

"Indeed." Not that they knew of any other qualified dwarves besides Dori and Nori themselves in the first place. None of those who had been members of the Guild before Smaug or received the proper training had come forth, at least. "This is a medium-term contract, and will be valid for a month at a time, at which point it will be renewed unless either party wishes to terminate it, which they can do by simple oral notification. Once signed, the terms of this contract will be binding to both parties. A breach of the terms from either side may be grounds for early termination of the contract, in which case the rights and responsibilities of either party end at the time of the infringement. If the breach of terms is of a criminal nature, I will be present at the court as a witness to the circumstances."

"Agreeable," Dwalin grunted. "Though if I did anything criminal to harm him, I wouldn't expect to make it alive to the courts."

"And you would be right." Just because he was representing a long-lost guild didn't mean he couldn't also be a brother. "Well, then, the responsibilities. At the most basic level, the client agrees to be responsible for the care and comfort of the confidante and any dependents for the duration of the contract, including living arrangements, food and clothing of a guild-approved standard or higher. In addition, a payment of gold or other equivalent materials at the official exchange rate will be provided. This payment will be paid at the start of each term of the contract, and will not be refunded if the contract is broken by the client. The standard guild payment rate has been marked in the contract. Will this be sufficient?" He glanced at Nori, who had the first say here. After all, Dwalin was not allowed to try to negotiate the rate down from the guild standard.

Nori shrugged. "That should be quite enough." Their mother had been paid much more than the guild rates, back in the day, but then this was all irrelevant in the end. Dwalin could have paid Nori ten times the guild rates for the rest of their lives, and it wouldn't have made any significant difference to either of their wealth, not with their shares of the hoard.

"Very well." He moved on to the next point. "In return for this, the confidante will provide the client with companionship and aid for the duration of the contract to the extent agreed upon by both parties. This may include advisory duties, household chores, social duties, professional aid, or sexual companionship." And he was not going to be thinking too closely about that, thank you. It was a perfectly honourable profession, yes, but he did not need to think about his brother's sexual practises. "Do either of you feel these duties should be specified more clearly as part of this contract?"

Nori glanced at Dwalin, who shrugged. Then, he turned back to Dori. "I don't think so. If something comes up that we can't agree on, well, obviously the contract wasn't going to work out anyway." He gave Dori a wry grin. "I mean, I'm not relying on this to feed myself, so it wouldn't be a disaster if the contract had to be broken over something unexpected."

"Aye." Dwalin nodded in agreement. "We've already spoken of the basics, anyway. There is one thing I want written down, though."

"Oh?" Dori reached for the ink and pen he had set to the side. He was no scribe like Ori, but he had neat enough handwriting. "And what is that?" Nori seemed surprised, which was probably not a good thing. He tried not to tense too much before he had heard what Dwalin meant to say, though.

"If he has other duties, be they professional or otherwise, those take priority over this arrangement." Dwalin glanced at Nori. "As I understand, this contract has been crafted for those who make the work of a confidante their main trade. However, our situation is quite different. I understand Nori has other obligations, both to his king and his family, and those must take precedence."

"Very well." Well, far be it from him to disagree if Dwalin was the one to want that marked down. Nori wasn't protesting, either, not that he would have any reason to do so, so Dori wrote it down. "Anything else?"

"I, ah. I think we're good." Nori nodded.

"Then, the next point." He set his pen aside again, careful with handling the document with the now fresh ink on it. "As this is a matter of companionship, it is assumed a certain level of devotion is necessary. As such, if either party enters a contract for a betrothal or marriage, this contract will be considered void from that date forward. Furthermore, as sexual companionship is included in this particular arrangement, both parties agree not to have sexual relations with people outside the bounds of this contract." He hadn't had many longer contracts himself, back in the day, but from his mother he knew this point was rarely contested from either side, though it was as open to negotiation as most other points in the contract. Dwarves were a loyal and jealous race, and a confidante who tumbled about was not much of a devoted companion. As for the client, well, if they were the type to share a bed with just anyone, they wouldn't be taking a long-term confidante anyway.

Neither Nori nor Dwalin spoke up. Then, he hadn't truly expected them to. For all that Nori spoke of the evils of commitment, he'd seemed strangely focused on this contract ever since he first brought up the possibility of it to Dori.

"Regardless of the level of sexual companionship negotiated elsewhere, either party has the right to refuse a particular sexual act for any reason, or sexual relations at a particular time. Any attempt at forcing the issue will be punishable the the full extent of the law. While such refusal is not grounds for immediate termination of contract, if there is a continuing pattern this may lead to renegotiations or early termination as a sign of incompatibility." He glanced at first at Dwalin, then Nori. "This is a guild minimum requirement, and cannot be negotiated toward less freedom. As you have already indicated that an early termination due to incompatibility is not a problem, I'm assuming there is nothing to address on this point."

"Nothing here." Nori took a small sip of his tea. "As Dwalin said earlier, we've already discussed the main points, anyway."

"Right." And that was all he needed to hear about that. "Now, as there may be a chance of offspring, we must address this point next." Not that he expected that to ever be relevant, given Nori's attitude toward such things. "Both sides are entitled to employ whatever methods of contraception they deem necessary. If either one does not wish to take the chance of conception, they have both the responsibility and the right to prevent this on their own side. However, if any offspring do result from the arrangement, through lack of contraception or the failure thereof, both parties will be responsible for the care and upbringing of these children, even beyond the term of the contract."

"Yeah, because that's likely to happen." Nori snorted. "Don't worry, we're both grown dwarves, we know all about sheaths and herbs and teas and such." Dwalin nodded gravely from his side.

"I should hope so, considering I told you all about such things myself, and I happen to know I was quite thorough." Dori shook his head. Trust Nori to make light even of such things. "Moving on. As a standard guild arrangement, this contract is a matter of public record. In addition, the confidante will indicate their unavailability when moving about in public. This may be done with a braid, a veil, or a piece of jewelry as indicated by guild guidelines, with the exact method chosen by the confidante. The purpose of this is to let potential clients know that they are not currently open to new contracts."

"Aye, we've already discussed that." Dwalin sounded quite serious, though then he had seemed very solemn about the matter the whole time. "And there's a point I'd like added to that. Just like his other duties take priority, he's free not to bear any mark if his other obligations demand that he be unrecognised for a while."

As Dori glanced at Nori, he shrugged. "It's only sensible. If I'm to do what Thorin wants of me, I'll have to be unknown from time to time. That's going to be tricky if I'm the only dwarf in the mountain wearing a confidante's braid or bells."

"Well, if you both agree, I don't see any reason why we could not add such a point." It was far from standard, but they were right in that Nori had other responsibilities, and the arrangement was far from standard anyway.

Dori added the stipulation, and moved on to the rest of the contract. There wasn't much detail to it, truly, not when this was a formality and they all knew it, for all that Dori knew in the old days some of the longer contracts had taken days to negotiate. At last, everything relevant had been covered, and he prepared to add his name to the spot reserved for the witness and overseer.

"One more thing." Because he needed to say this, needed to do so all the more because his brother wanted this so much. "Nori, despite having the training, you have not taken a contract with the guild before. Even if it isn't functional right now, if you sign this contract, that means you acknowledge the existence of the guild and thus accept your responsibilities towards it. That further means you cannot enter a marriage contract until ten years have passed from the signing of this contract or you have fulfilled a total of five years of guild contracts, whichever comes first."

"Right." Nori snorted, reaching for the pen himself as soon as Dori was done signing his name. "Because I am in such a rush to commit to someone else."

Dori watched as Nori wrote down his name, the quick, scratchy runes of one who had never had much cause to write anything down, and did not point out that for someone so declaring his independence Nori certainly seemed to be in a hurry to enter this particular commitment, however temporary.

He rather suspected all three of them were very much aware of it, anyway.


End file.
